News briefs for June 6, 2002

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 11:03 a.m.

Scows sue over tire separation

Clark County School Board member Mary Beth Scow has filed a federal lawsuit against Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. in connection with the a tire separation that caused her Ford Explorer to crash in August 2000.

Scow and her husband, Steven Scow, are seeking more than $75,000 in damages, according to the suit filed Wednesday.

Scow was driving her Explorer on U.S. 95 when a Firestone Wilderness AT tire separated, sending the SUV across three lanes of traffic before hitting a concrete barrier and flipping upside-down, Scow said.

Just back from vacation, Scow said she was unaware that she was driving on one of three tire types that had been recalled because of the possibility of tread separation.

Woman not homicide victim

The death of a woman whose body was found in a parking lot over the weekend is not considered a homicide, Metro Police said.

The woman's body was found Sunday about 2:15 p.m. by two teens walking through a parking lot in the 4700 block of Boulder Highway. While no cause of death has been determined by the Clark County coroner's office, there was "no evidence to suggest" she was a victim of a homicide, Lt. Tom Monahan said Wednesday.

The woman's name was not released because coroner officials are still trying to notify her family.

Sexual assaults draw 40 years

A 51-year-old Las Vegas man who sexually assaulted his stepdaughter and, years later, his granddaughters, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Wednesday.

The man, who is not being identified to protect the identities of the victims, will have to serve at least 10 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

The man pleaded guilty in March to two counts of sexual assault of a minor under 16. He admitted that he repeatedly sexually assaulted two of his granddaughters over an 18-month period. The children were 7 and 9 years old.

More than a decade ago the man was placed on five years' probation after entering a plea agreement in a case in which he was charged with sexually assaulting one of his stepdaughters.

He gained custody of his granddaughters in 1998 when his natural daughter was killed.

Appeal denied in 2000 murder

The Nevada Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of Juan Tadeo, sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in the robbery-murder of a Las Vegas man in March 2000.

Tadeo, through his lawyer, argued that District Judge Sally Loehrer had made errors in jury instructions and that the first-degree murder conviction should be overturned.

Tadeo, who was 16 at the time of the killing, and Jesus Celestin, who was 18 at the time, were convicted of murder, burglary, robbery, kidnapping and arson.

Prosecutors said Tadeo shot Conrad Sandoval, 25, after Sandoval flirted with Celestin's girlfriend and flashed a large sum of money at a party.

Public defender to help Dettloff

Mitchell Dettloff, who was sentenced to four to 10 years in prison last month for leaving the scene of a deadly accident, will be represented by the Clark County public defender's office during his appeal.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure appointed the public defender's office to Dettloff's case Monday after Dettloff and his trial attorney, Karen Winckler, told him that Dettloff is now indigent.

Dettloff, 37, was convicted of leaving the scene of an April 22, 2001, accident that killed Brian Cooper, 30, Benjamin Barton, 8, and his mother, Holly Barton, 33.